Stanford believes it's primed to stay on top

Stanford coach David Shaw, center, is greeted by Fiesta Bowl board member Brian Hall, left, upon arrival to play Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl college football game Monday, Dec. 26, 2011at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix.

STANFORD, Calif. — David Shaw has no plans for Stanford to be down on its Luck once star quarterback Andrew departs for the NFL.

Shaw gets the same question in a variety of forms: Will his Cardinal possibly stay put as a top-tier team once projected No. 1 pick Luck is long gone?

Shaw is optimistic he can keep a good thing going, and the ever-positive Luck doesn't foresee a drop-off for the No. 4 Cardinal (11-1), either.

Shaw, for one, looks at Monday's Fiesta Bowl date with third-ranked Oklahoma State (11-1) not as the program's last hurrah on college football's big stage but rather just another great opportunity to keep building the Stanford name.

A win over Oklahoma State and the Cardinal would match their 12-1 record from last season.